EPAPHRAS, was, as is believed, the first Bishop of Colosse. He was converted by St. Paul, and contributed much to the conversion of his fellow-citizens, the inhabitants of Colosse. He came to Rome while St. Paul was there in bonds, and was himself imprisoned with St. Paul for the cause of Christianity. Having understood, that the false Apostles, taking the advanadvantage Col. i. 7.of his absence, had sown tares among the wheat in his Church. He engaged St. Paul, whose name and authority were reverenced throughout all Phrygia, to send a letter to the Colossians, in order to set them right in matters wherein they were mistaken, and to give them a true knowledge of their false Teachers. St. Paul, with an intention of supporting the authority of Epaphras, and recommending his merit to the Colossians, says, That he is his dear fellow-servant, and a faithful minister of Christ. The Festival of Epaphras is set down in the Kalendars upon the 19th of July, and in them it is said, that he suffered martyrdom at Colosse.
Library / Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged
Volume I · E
Epaphras
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Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., “Epaphras,” in Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/calmet-dictionary/e/epaphras/.